The top universities have hit out at
Clive Palmer
’s policy of free university education, saying it would cost the federal government an extra $133 billion over the next 17 years.

The Group of Eight universities, representing the elite research institutions, said a policy of free universities was free only for the student.

“For the government, and ultimately for the taxpayer, this would be a very real cost," the Group of Eight said in a new policy note to be released this week.

“In all likelihood, such a policy would either see the reintroduction of limits on student numbers as a means of restraining costs, or a significant decrease in quality."

The Group of Eight strongly backs the federal government’s university reform plan, which will deregulate fees and pass more costs on to students.

Its attack on the Palmer policy comes as federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne prepares to introduce legislation to the Parliament this Thursday to enact the reform plan.

The Palmer United Party is the major obstacle to the government’s chances of passing higher education reform through the Senate. With Labor and the Greens opposed to the deregulatory changes, the government needs to find at least six votes from among the five independent senators and the four senators associated with PUP.

However, Mr Palmer and PUP senator Jacquie Lambie have both rejected university fee deregulation. PUP’s policy position is for university education to be free, something also supported by the Greens.

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Mr Pyne has signalled his willingness to negotiate a compromise with the crossbench senators to get his reforms through. But Mr Pyne is making no offers up front. His spokesperson said the bill he will introduce on Thursday will reflect the reforms as they were announced in May.

This will include controversial elements such as applying a real interest rate to HECS student loans and cutting government support for undergraduate teaching by 20 per cent.

The bill is expected to pass the house quickly but get tied up in the Senate, with a Senate committee likely to spend weeks examining its detail as the government tries to forge a compromise.

No part of the higher education sector fully backs the Pyne reforms. Even the Group of Eight wants to see the real interest rate on HECS wound back and a reduction in the 20 per cent cut to undergraduate teaching.

The universities’ peak organisation, Universities Australia, also wants to see these changes, as well as assistance for regional universities making the transition to the new deregulated system.

The five universities in the Australian Technology Network also call on the government to abandon its 10 per cent cut to the research training scheme that funds graduate research students.

In its policy note, the Group of Eight said that to recoup the cost of making undergraduate education free, ­students numbers would need to be cut by more than half.

Alternatively, international student fees would need to be doubled, “a move that would rapidly diminish Australia’s market position".

The analysis did not take into account the extra student numbers that would be generated by free education, which would further add to the cost.